Geography

Map of the Earth ([Medium]) ([Large 2 MB])

Geography is the study of the Earth and its features and of the distribution of life on the earth, including human life and the effects of human activity. Geography research addresses both the questions of where, as well as why phenomena occur in particular places. The word comes from the Greek words Ge (γη) or Gaea (γαια), both meaning "Earth", and graphein (γραφειν) meaning "to describe" or "to write".

"Mere place names are not geography. To know by heart a whole gazeteer full of them would not, in itself, constitute anyone a geographer. Geography has higher aims than this... to trace out the great laws of nature and to mark their influence upon man. In a word, geography is a science, a thing not of mere names, but of argument and reason, of cause and effect." -- William Hughes (King's College, 1863)

Since place matters for everything from economics and health, to climate, plants and animals, geography is highly interdisciplinary. Geography draws upon and contributes to numerous other knowledge disciplines. Geography is broadly divided into human geography and physical geography, with subfields of geography including economic geography, political geography, urban geography, biogeography, geomorphology, coastal geography, and others.

With advances in computer technology, the analytical and spatial data management tools available to geographers, including Geographic Information Systems and spatial data analysis, are now allowing geographers for more rigorious, quantitative analysis of spatial phenomena. Though, the qualitative approach to geography remains important, with ethnography and other methodologies used to investigate theories of spatial phenomena.

Contents

1 History of geography
2 Physical geography
3 Human geography
4 Socio-environmental geography
5 Related fields

5.1 '''Urban, regional and spatial planning'''
5.2 '''Regional science'''

6 Geographic techniques
7 See also
8 External links

History of geography

''See main article: History of geography

A Russian Map of the journeys of Marco Polo.

The Greeks are the first known culture to actively explore geography as a science and philosophy. Mapping by the Romans as they explored new lands added new techniques. During the Middle Ages, Arabs such as Idrisi, Ibn Batutta, and Ibn Khaldun maintained the Greek and Roman techniques and developed new ones.

Following the journeys of Marco Polo, interest in geography spread throughout Europe. The great voyages of exploration in the 16th and 17th centuries revived a desire for both accurate geographic detail, and more solid theoretical foundations. This period is also known as Great Geographical Discoveries. By the 18th century, geography had become recognized as a discrete discipline and became part of a typical university curriculum in Europe (especially Paris and Berlin).

Over the past two centuries the quantity of knowledge and the number of tools exploded. There are strong links between geography and the sciences of geology and botany, as well as economics, sociology and demographics. In the West during the 20th century, the discipline of geography went through four major phases: environmental determinism, regional geography, the quantitative revolution, and critical geography.

Physical geography

Physical geography (or physiogeography) focuses on geography as an Earth science. It aims to understand the physical features of the Earth, its lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, pedosphere and global flora and fauna patterns (biosphere). Physical Geography can be divided into the following broad categories:

Human geography

Human geography is a branch of geography that focuses on the study of patterns and processes that shape human interaction with various environments. It encompasses human, political, cultural, social, and economic aspects. While the major focus of human geography is not the physical landscape of the Earth (see physical geography), it is hardly possible to discuss human geography without referring to the physical landscape on which human activities are being played out, and environmental geography is emerging as a link between the two.

Human geography can be divided into many broad categories, such as:

* Distinction between these fields of study have become increasingly blurred over time and the above list should not be considered definitive.

Socio-environmental geography

During the time of environmental determinism, geography was defined not as the study of spatial relationships, but as the study of how humans and the natural environment interact. Though environmental determinism has lost support, there remains a strong tradition of geographers addressing the relationships between people and nature. There are two main subfields of socio-environmental geography:

Cultural and Political ecology (CAPE): Cultural ecology grew out of the work of Carl Sauer in geography and a similar school of thought in anthropology. It examined how human societies adapt themselves to the natural environment. Sustainability science has been one important outgrowth of this tradition. Political ecology arose when some geographers used aspects of critical geography to look at relations of power and how they affect people's use of the environment. For example, an influential study by Michael Watts argued that famines in the Sahel are caused by the changes in the region's political and economic system as a result of colonialism and the spread of capitalism.

Risk-hazards research: Research on hazards began with the work of geographer Gilbert F. White, who sought to understand why people live in disaster-prone floodplains. Since then, the hazards field has expanded to become a multidisciplinary field examining both natural hazards (such as earthquakes) as well as technological hazards (such as nuclear reactor meltdowns). Geographers studying hazards are interested in both the dynamics of the hazard event and how people and societies deal with it. (See main article: Disaster management)

Related fields

Urban, regional and spatial planning

Urban planning, regional planning and spatial planning use the science of geography to assist in determining how to develop (or not develop) the land to meet particular criteria, such as safety, beauty, economic opportunities, the preservation of the built or natural heritage, and so on. The planning of towns, cities and rural areas may be seen as applied geography although it also draws heavily upon engineering, the arts, the sciences, lessons of history, and politics. Some of the issues facing planning are considered briefly under the headings of rural exodus, urban exodus and smart growth.

Regional science

In the 1950s the regional science movement led by Walter Isard arose, to provide a more quantitative and analytical base to geographical questions, in contrast to the descriptive tendencies of traditional geography programs. Regional science comprises the body of knowledge in which the spatial dimension plays a fundamental role, such as regional economics, resource management, location theory, urban and regional planning, transport and communication, human geography, population distribution, landscape ecology, and environmental quality.

Geographic techniques

As spatial interrelationships are key to this synoptic science, maps are a key tool. Classical cartography has been joined by a more modern approach to geographical analysis, computer-based geographic information systems (GIS).

Cartography studies the representation of the Earth's surface with abstract symbols (map making). Although other subdisciplines of geography rely on maps for presenting their analyses, the actual making of maps is abstract enough to be regarded separately. Cartography has grown from a collection of drafting techniques into an actual science. Cartographers must learn cognitive psychology and ergonomics to understand which symbols convey information about the Earth most effectively, and behavioral psychology to induce the readers of their maps to act on the information. They must learn geodesy and fairly advanced mathematics to understand how the shape of the Earth affects the distortion of map symbols projected onto a flat surface for viewing. It can be said, without much controversy, that cartography is the seed from which the larger field of geography grew. Most geographers will cite a childhood fascination with maps as an early sign they would end up in the field.

GIS software.

Geographic information systems (GIS) deal with the storage of information about the Earth for automatic retrieval by a computer, in an accurate manner appropriate to the information's purpose. In addition to all of the other subdisciplines of geography, GIS specialists must understand computer science and database systems. GIS has revolutionized the field of cartography; nearly all mapmaking is now done with the assistance of some form of GIS software.

"Geostatistics" deal with quantitative data analysis, specifically the application of statistical methodology to the exploration of geographic phenomena. Geostatistics is used extensively in a variety of fields including: hydrology, geology, petroleum exploration, weather analysis, urban planning, logistics, and epidimeology. The mathematical basis for geostatistics derives from cluster analysis, discriminant analysis, and non-parametric statistical tests, and a variety of other subjects. Applications of geostatistics rely heavily on Geographic Information Systems, particularly for the interpolation (estimate) of unmeasured points.

Geographic qualitative methods, or ethnographical; research techniques, are used by human geographers. In cultural geography there is a tradition of employing qualitative research techniques also used in anthropology and sociology. Participant observation and in-depth interviews provide human geographers with qualitative data.

In their study, geographers use four interrelated approaches:

Systematic - Groups geographical knowledge into categories that can be explored globally.
Regional - Examines systematic relationships between categories for a specific region or location on the planet.
Descriptive - Simply specifies the locations of features and populations.
Analytical - Asks why we find features and populations in a specific geographic area.

External links

[The Geography-Site - example site for 11-17 geography studies in the UK]
[Antique and Rare Maps - Art Source International] - Links to rare and antique maps and to cartography resources.
[Association of American Geographers]
[Canadian Geographic]
[Confluence.org] - A work in progress, involving travelling to every point on the globe where the lines of longitude and latitude intersect and taking a photograph in each direction.
[Free Maps Germany]
[Geography discussion forums]
[Geo-Guide] - Extensive list of academic resources on geography and earth science
[Geography in Action]
[Geopium] - Geopolitics of Illicit Drugs in Asia
[GISuser.com, information-rich portal about GIS]
[Give Geography its Place] - campaign for broadcast media to recognise geography
[Hypergeo : Geographical Encyclopedia]
[MapInfo GIS Software]
[PopulationData.net]
[Using Literature To Teach Geography in High Schools. ERIC Digest.]
[Teaching Geography at School and Home. ERIC Digest.]
[The National Geography Content Standards. ERIC Digest.]
[National Geographic Online]
[Royal Geographical Society]
[Royal Canadian Geographical Society]
[Sheppard Software] - Excellent Free Online Geography-Learning Games from Sheppard Software
[slashgeo.org] - Community-driven and ad-free website about Geography and Geospatial technologies
[UNEP's GEO Data Portal] database with >450 statistical and geospatial data sets

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